# Floodlighting: The Toxic Boss Tactic

- **Episode:** [170](https://agents.truthliesandwork.com/episodes/170.md) (2025-02-11)
- **Type:** news-roundup
- **Tags:** toxic-boss, management, workplace-culture
- **Time:** 2:30–5:39 (start 150s)
- **Listen:** [https://truthliesandwork.com/170?t=150](https://truthliesandwork.com/170?t=150)

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[2:30] Al Elliott: Jingle has been cued. What have you seen this week, Leah?
[2:34] Leanne Elliott: I've got a new word
[2:35] John Lee Dumas: Go on
[2:36] Leanne Elliott: Floodlighting
[2:37] Al Elliott: Right
[2:38] John Lee Dumas: Floodlighting
[2:39] Al Elliott: I know what a floodlight is
[2:41] Leanne Elliott: What do you think it is in the world of work? Guesses
[2:43] Al Elliott: Oh, in the world of work, maybe when someone floods you, your inbox with a load of tasks in an attempt to make you look like you might not know what you're doing?
[2:53] Leanne Elliott: Not quite, but it's not far off. It's not far off. Apparently floodlighting is when a manager singles you out, magnifies your mistakes, and embarrasses you in front of everyone. Being a bit of an asshole, basically. Apparently, if you have experienced that, then you have been floodlighted. So yeah, basically, this is an article that I saw in a magazine, actually, like a fashion magazine. But it said that it's when a boss shines a massive spotlight on everything you do wrong while conveniently ignoring your wins. So basically, if you make a small mistake at work, instead of handling it quietly, your manager kind of calls it out in front of the team, has a bit of a tizzy fit, making it look like your job's on the line. This comes from an expert, a workplace expert called Matthew Cook. Who explains that this kind of behavior is usually about power. Bosses who feel insecure or need to assert control will often use floodlighting, and apparently it's more common than we think. 1 in 5 employees have been shouted at by a manager, and nearly half of UK workers have quit over bad leadership. So this term, as I said, has been coined by Matthew Cook, culture and people specialist, a mental health first aider, and a practitioner of nonviolent communication and immunity to change coaching. He also, Al, and I think you'll, you'll click it all click into place now. He also co-hosted the number one business podcast, Eat Sleep Work Repeat
[4:26] Al Elliott: Oh, Adam Grant
[4:27] Leanne Elliott: No, no
[4:29] Al Elliott: Bruce Daisley. Bruce. Sorry, Bruce. Sorry
[4:32] Leanne Elliott: Yeah. So he spent loads of years with Bruce diving into, into what makes work work and doesn't make it toxic. So what do you think, Al? Floodlighting
[4:40] Al Elliott: There's all these fancy terms for basically just being a bit of an ass. Um, and I don't really understand why we need all the terms, but I suppose, do you know what, I have a theory that we have these terms because people who are writing articles or doing social media stuff need a flashy term, and that's what they've decided to make it up. So that's my thinking, but I don't know. Um, I think just don't be an arse. That's really sort of like the best management behaviour, isn't it? Management advice
[5:06] Leanne Elliott: Yeah, it's rule one really, isn't it? Rule one. Um, but apparently if your boss is floodlighting, then Matt suggests that you shouldn't fight fire with fire. calling them out publicly, try raising it privately. And if that doesn't work, it might be time to escalate it either to HR or somebody else, or probably more than likely time to be polishing up that CV. Because mainly he says if an organisation allows this type of behaviour, then it really tells you everything you need to know about the culture, which, you know, that's my favourite definition. So yeah, there you go, Al. Floodlighting. What have you seen this week?